Radisson Hotel Group and GDS-Movement launch roadmap to help close the sustainability action gap

The new guide provides Associations and professional conference organizers (PCOs) with practical tools, destination data, and measurable frameworks to turn sustainability ambitions into action.

BRUSSELS, Sept. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- While sustainability has become a strategic priority for many organizations, implementation remains a significant challenge across the meetings and events industry. New findings show that although 66% of Associations consider sustainability highly important, fewer than 34% have embedded it into their operations, and only 3% report having an advanced sustainability program.

To help close this gap, Radisson Hotel Group (RHG) and GDS-Movement have partnered to launch Accelerating Sustainable & Regenerative Events: A Guide for Associations & PCOs, a practical roadmap designed to help Associations and Professional Congress Organizers (PCOs) integrate sustainability into event planning, delivery and reporting.

The guide was unveiled to industry stakeholders in Brussels and developed using insights from destinations participating in the GDS-Index, the leading benchmarking and performance improvement program for destination sustainability. For Associations, the challenge extends beyond a single event. Many organizations manage multiple meetings across different destinations, suppliers and planning cycles, creating complexity when trying to implement consistent sustainability standards and reporting frameworks.

"The industry does not have a sustainability awareness problem; it has an implementation challenge," said Inge Huijbrechts, Chief Sustainability and Security Officer at Radisson Hotel Group. "As a global hospitality company, we work closely with associations, event organizers and destinations around the world and understand the practical barriers they face. This guide is designed to move the conversation from ambition to action by providing planners with practical tools, trusted frameworks and stronger collaboration models."

Addressing the sustainability action gap

Despite growing awareness of environmental and social responsibilities, many event organizers continue to face barriers, including perceived costs, limited access to sustainability data, fragmented supplier ecosystems and a lack of practical implementation frameworks.

The guide argues that successful sustainable events require more than individual initiatives. They depend on collaboration between Associations, destinations, venues and suppliers to create measurable and repeatable approaches that can be applied consistently across event portfolios. For organizations managing recurring congresses, annual conferences and regional meetings, this need for consistency is particularly important.

The role of destinations in driving progress

A central theme of the guide is the growing role of destinations in helping event organizers achieve their sustainability objectives.

Through the GDS-Index, destinations are assessed against 74 qualitative and quantitative indicators aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) Destination Criteria, helping create transparency and accountability across the events ecosystem.

"Destinations play a pivotal role in accelerating the transition toward sustainable and regenerative events," said Guy Bigwood, CEO and Chief Changemaker of GDS-Movement. "Through the GDS-Index, we help destinations measure and improve their sustainability performance while providing event organizers with the information they need to make informed decisions. Collaboration between destinations, venues and suppliers is essential to creating events that generate meaningful social, environmental and economic value."

Five actions for more sustainable events

The guide outlines five practical actions that Associations and PCOs can implement to strengthen sustainability performance across their events:

• Collaborate with destination partners earlier in the planning process
• Prioritize certified supplier networks and sustainability credentials
• Integrate social impact and legacy initiatives into event design
• Incorporate low-carbon mobility strategies for delegates and stakeholders
• Implement sustainability-linked measurement, reporting and incentive frameworks

Together, these actions provide planners with a practical foundation for delivering more sustainable and regenerative events while improving consistency across multiple meetings and destinations.

A shared commitment to industry progress

The partnership between Radisson Hotel Group and GDS-Movement reflects a shared commitment to accelerating sustainability across the meetings and events industry through practical action, collaboration and measurable outcomes.

Building on initiatives such as Verified Net Zero and the implementation of Hotel Sustainability Basics across its portfolio, Radisson Hotel Group continues to work with Associations, destinations and industry partners to support more responsible event delivery and help create a more sustainable future for meetings and events worldwide.

The full guide, Accelerating Sustainable & Regenerative Events: A Guide for Associations & PCOs, is available here.

-ENDS-

ABOUT RADISSON HOTEL GROUP

Radisson Hotel Group is a rapidly expanding international hotel group, operating across EMEA and APAC with more than 1,660 hotels in operation and under development in over 100 countries. Guided by its brand promise, Every Moment Matters, the Group brings its signature Yes I Can! service ethos to every guest experience.

The Radisson brand portfolio includes Radisson Collection, art'otel, Radisson Blu, Park Plaza, Radisson RED, Radisson Individuals, Radisson, Park Inn by Radisson, Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, and Prize by Radisson—brought together under the commercial umbrella brand, Radisson Hotels.

Radisson Rewards is Radisson Hotel Group's loyalty program, which delivers an elevated experience that makes Every Moment Matter, counting more than 29 million members. As the most streamlined program in the sector, members enjoy exceptional advantages and can access their benefits from day one across a wide range of hotels in Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific.

Radisson Meetings provides tailored solutions for any event or meeting, including hybrid solutions, placing guests and their needs at the heart of its offer. Radisson Meetings is built around three strong service commitments: Personal, Professional, and Memorable, while delivering on the brilliant basics and being uniquely Carbon Compensated. 

At Radisson Hotel Group, we care for people, communities, and planet and aim to be Net Zero by 2050 based on the approved Science Based Targets. With unique solutions such as carbon-compensated Radisson Meetings, we make sustainable hotel stays easy. To facilitate sustainable travel choices, all our hotels are becoming verified on Hotel Sustainability Basics.

The health and safety of guests and team members remain a top priority for Radisson Hotel Group. All properties across the Group's portfolio are subject to health and safety requirements, ensuring we always care for our guests and team members.

For more information, visit Radisson Hotel Group on RadissonHotels.com. Or connect with Radisson Hotels on:

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Radisson Hotel Group and GDS-Movement launch roadmap to help close the sustainability action gap

The three-day learning event brings together soy industry professionals from across Asia for practical learning spanning processing technology, product development and consumer insights.

BANGKOK, Sept. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Tetra Pak, in collaboration with the Soy Excellence Center Asia, a U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) initiative, hosted the Soy Food & Beverage Intermediate learning track from 15-17 September 2026 at Tetra Pak's Product Development Centre (PDC) in Rayong and Customer Innovation Centre (CIC) in Bangkok. The learning track brought together soy industry professionals from across Asia to strengthen their knowledge of soy beverage processing, formulation and consumer-led product development.

Asia Pacific accounts for 75% of the global plant-based beverage volume.^[1] In many Western markets, plant-based beverages are commonly positioned as alternatives to dairy. Across many Asian markets, however soy has long been an established part of the beverage category alongside other plant-based drinks.

As consumer preferences evolve and the range of plant-based products expands, the challenge for soy beverage manufacturers is to bring new value to a familiar category. This can mean exploring and developing new taste and texture profiles, addressing different nutritional needs and creating products for new consumption occasions and formats.

Over three days, the learning track explored opportunities across the soy beverage value chain, from soybean variety and supplier selection to formulation, processing technology, sensory evaluation and consumer understanding. Technical sessions were combined with hands-on learning and an ideation workshop, where participants developed soy beverage concepts tailored to specific consumer groups.

Sherry Chen, Center Lead, Soy Excellence Center Asia, said: "Growing the soy food and beverage category starts with understanding how decisions across the value chain, from soybean selection to processing and formulation, shape product quality and the consumer experience. The Soy Excellence Center Asia gives participants a practical learning environment to strengthen their technical skills and apply that knowledge directly to product development. Our collaboration with Tetra Pak brings this learning to life with hands-on experience, giving learners deeper insights into processing, formulation and consumer needs. By combining technical expertise with real-world application, we are equipping participants with practical insights they can use to innovate, improve products, and drive growth in their markets."

Across Tetra Pak's innovation ecosystem, participants worked across both the Customer Innovation Centre (CIC) in Bangkok and the Product Development Centre (PDC) in Rayong to gain end-to-end insights into soy beverage innovation and production.

At the CIC, sessions focused on product and consumer-led innovation, exploring plant-based trends across Asia Pacific, Tetra Pak's customer innovation ecosystem, functional ingredients, fermentation technologies and the utilisation of okara.

At the PDC, participants took part in hands-on demonstrations across key stages of aseptic soy beverage production, including extraction, blending and UHT processing, aseptic filling, and food development. Tetra Pak specialists also shared expertise in production technologies, operational efficiency, troubleshooting, soy waste management and beverage formulation.

Sutthinun Taechathayanon, Customer Experience Manager APAC, Tetra Pak, said: "Soy is already familiar to consumers across many Asian markets, creating a strong foundation for further innovation. By combining consumer insights with formulation and processing expertise, producers can identify opportunities to enhance taste, texture, nutrition, and convenience while developing products that respond to changing consumer needs and consumption occasions. Through Tetra Pak's CIC Bangkok and PDC Rayong, soy manufacturers can explore new product ideas, conduct trials, and accelerate the journey from concept to commercialization with greater confidence and reduced risk. Our continued collaboration with USSEC helps translate knowledge from across the soy value chain into practical product development opportunities for the industry."

The Soy Food & Beverage Intermediate learning track course builds on the long-standing partnership between Tetra Pak and USSEC, combining USSEC's expertise across the soy value chain with Tetra Pak's expertise in processing and product development to support continued innovation across Asia Pacific's soy food and beverage industry. To learn more about Tetra Pak's soy beverage processing solutions, visit our website here.

ABOUT TETRA PAK

We're here to make food safe and available. It's why we provide advanced food production systems. In collaboration with our customers and suppliers, driven by more than 24,000 dedicated employees worldwide, we protect food sustainably every day for hundreds of millions of people in more than 160 countries. Because we're here to fulfil a purpose:

We commit to making food safe and available, everywhere, and we promise to protect what's good: food, people and the planet.

More information about Tetra Pak is available at tetrapak.com.

ABOUT SOY EXCELLENCE CENTER

The Soy Excellence Centers (SEC), an initiative by the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC), focuses on skills-building for early- to mid-career protein professionals in growing markets through world-class workforce training and professional development to meet local nutrition and food security needs and support sustainable economic growth. USSEC is collaborating with diverse partners, including local food and agriculture universities and organizations, to deliver training in five core subject areas – aquaculture, feed, food, poultry, and swine. USSEC operates Soy Excellence Centers in four regional hubs – Americas, Asia, Middle East and North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

[1] Tetra Pak Compass, Dairy Alternatives, 2025.

[1] Tetra Pak Compass, Dairy Alternatives, 2025.

 

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Tetra Pak and Soy Excellence Center Asia Host Regional Soy Food and Beverage Programme in Thailand